On a day that even McDonalds its doors, some local restaurants offered hundreds of local residents a home-cooked Thanksgiving Day meal on Thursday without all the hassles that come with cooking at home.

Dennis Martin, owner of Opal Mae’s in downtown Russellville, said his restaurant was booked throughout the day, including a party of 200 employees of a local company, that was split between reservations at 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m.

The restaurant, Martin said, also offered carry-out to more than 60 customers Thursday, letting customers come and take their pickings from four entries — roasted turkey, roast beef, baked ham and chicken divan — a slew of classic Thanksgiving sides, such as cornbread dressing, red skin and sweet potatoes, dinner rolls and macaroni and cheese; and a buffet of desserts, ranging from coconut, possum, chocolate and pecan pies to carrot cake and cinnamon apple dumplings.

Martin said a lot of people prefer going out for Thanksgiving because it offers the same good taste of a home-cooked meal, but without a lot of the inconveniences that accompany it.

“It’s more convenient,” he said. “If you want all the traditional Thanksgiving foods, like turkey and ham, you buy it and have a lot of leftovers. If you come here, you can eat with no clean-up.”

Dick and Nancy Smith, who decided to try something new this year by going out for Thanksgiving, said they enjoyed Opal Mae’s for that very reason.

When asked why they went out for Thanksgiving, Nancy Smith said “to save the dishes.”

“We don’t want to have all the cleanup,” she said. “We usually cook at home, but this year, since it’s just the two of us, we decided that we would like to just go out and have a good meal, but not to have all the extra around.”

The food, Dick Smith said, was just as good away from home.

“This one tasted absolutely home cooked,” he said.

Opal Mae’s was one of the few, but not the only eatery open on Thanksgiving. Lines of patient customers were seen standing outside Dixie Cafe as early as 11 a.m. Thursday as they waited to be seated.

A manager at Dixie Cafe said at 3 p.m. the restaurant was “slammed,” and due to such a heavy number of customers, staff was unavailable for interview.

Cracker Barrel also opened its doors for Thanksgiving, offering a variety of Thanksgiving dinner choices. And for the fast-moving person who couldn’t afford the time or money to sit and eat for a while, Burger King was still serving up Whoppers and fries on the holiday.